My Turn: Are our opinions based on facts – or just other opinions?

By Hafey Jones

Published: Friday, February 7, 2014 at 12:39 AM.

The United States has lost the war in Afghanistan. Global warning doesn’t exist. Excessive use of salt and sugar might damage our health. Which of these statements do you believe to be a fact, an opinion or fanciful?

We are bombarded by information on radio, television, the internet, books, newspapers, in our schools, churches and by friends. Each of us makes a judgment on what we hear or read. How do we decide what we hear or read to be a fact, an opinion or existing only in our mind?

In most of our elementary schools, children are taught the differences between facts, opinions or what is unreal. As adults we often forget the differences. In order to tell the differences, we must first agree on the meaning of the words fact, opinion, and what exist only in the mind. The dictionary is usually where we go to determine the meaning of words.

Here’s how my dictionary defines a fact: Something that has actually happened; things as they are; reality; actuality; truth. A fact can be something believed to have occurred or supposed to be true. Facts are distinct from opinions or that which suggests an unreasonable state of mind or existing only in the mind.

The dictionary definition of an opinion: Beliefs stronger than impressions; less strong than positive knowledge; belief not based on absolute certainty but on what seems true in one’s own mind.

Keep these definitions in mind. Below are four sentences. Read each one and decide if you consider the sentence a fact, an opinion or existing only in the mind.

Sentence l: The government in Washington wishes to take away guns from its citizens. There is no absolute certainty this is a fact although it may be believed to be a fact by many people. There are some government officials who wish to take away some guns, assault rifles for instance. Notice how adding the word some before the word guns can change the sentence from an opinion or that which exists only in the mind to a fact. It’s always helpful to inquire about the reason for a belief. It may be based on what seems true in our minds but factually incorrect.

The United States has lost the war in Afghanistan. Global warning doesn’t exist. Excessive use of salt and sugar might damage our health. Which of these statements do you believe to be a fact, an opinion or fanciful?

We are bombarded by information on radio, television, the internet, books, newspapers, in our schools, churches and by friends. Each of us makes a judgment on what we hear or read. How do we decide what we hear or read to be a fact, an opinion or existing only in our mind?

In most of our elementary schools, children are taught the differences between facts, opinions or what is unreal. As adults we often forget the differences. In order to tell the differences, we must first agree on the meaning of the words fact, opinion, and what exist only in the mind. The dictionary is usually where we go to determine the meaning of words.

Here’s how my dictionary defines a fact: Something that has actually happened; things as they are; reality; actuality; truth. A fact can be something believed to have occurred or supposed to be true. Facts are distinct from opinions or that which suggests an unreasonable state of mind or existing only in the mind.

The dictionary definition of an opinion: Beliefs stronger than impressions; less strong than positive knowledge; belief not based on absolute certainty but on what seems true in one’s own mind.

Keep these definitions in mind. Below are four sentences. Read each one and decide if you consider the sentence a fact, an opinion or existing only in the mind.

Sentence l: The government in Washington wishes to take away guns from its citizens. There is no absolute certainty this is a fact although it may be believed to be a fact by many people. There are some government officials who wish to take away some guns, assault rifles for instance. Notice how adding the word some before the word guns can change the sentence from an opinion or that which exists only in the mind to a fact. It’s always helpful to inquire about the reason for a belief. It may be based on what seems true in our minds but factually incorrect.

Sentence 2: Democrats are more patriotic than Republicans. More information is needed to make this sentence a fact. For instance, we would need to apply the same definition for “patriotic” to both Democrats and Republicans. Then we would need to survey all Democrats and Republican, using the same questions for both groups. Both Democrats and Republicans may be patriotic; however the sentence stated Democrats are more patriotic than Republicans. There is no absolute certainty this is true. It could merely be a fancy, existing only in the mind.

Sentence 3: Women are smarter than men. This is an opinion although in my mind I believe it to be a fact, making it both an opinion and a fact for me. However, I lack the knowledge in the scientific sense to make it a fact. It might be a scientific fact if we based the sentence on a given test made up of equal IQ’s of the same number of men or women. The test would need to be gender neutral. And the word “smarter” is problematic. Some may be smart in a science class but dumb in practical matters. We need to remember that facts do not cease to exist because they are denied.

Sentence 4: God created the heavens and the earth six thousand years ago. Some would believe this sentence to be partially factual (the universe is more than an accident). We cannot appeal to a statement to be factual because it appears in a sacred text. The meaning of this sentence is interpreted differently by various religious groups. In the King James version of Genesis, chapter one verse one reads: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

The margin adds B.C. 4004 which is not in chapter one of Genesis. In 1654 Archbishop Ussher calculated that the creation of the world took place in 4004, apparently not a problem for scholars who later added 4004 B.C. in the margin of the King James Bible, first published in 1611. Some religious beliefs in the past are believed to be inaccurate based on later scientific evidence. Science indicates that the world is millions or billions of years old which, if true, makes this sentence a fancy or existing only in the mind.

The above are my opinions or fancies, not necessarily my facts. What each of us considers to be an opinion may in reality be factual. That which we feel to be factual may be an opinion or existing only in our minds. Much that we believe to be factual may be based on incomplete or inaccurate knowledge.

“Generally the theories we believe we call facts, and the facts we disbelieve we call theories.” – Felix Cohen.